Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 102 (2013) 8385

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Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces

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Short communication

A novel green synthesis of colloidal silver nanoparticles (SNP) using Dillenia

indica fruit extract
Susmita Singh a , Jyoti P. Saikia b, , Alak K. Buragohain a
a
b

Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur (Central) University, PO-Napaam, Sonitpur 784028, Assam, India
DBT Nodal Centre, Tezpur (Central) University, PO-Napaam, Sonitpur 784028, Assam, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 21 June 2012
Received in revised form 7 August 2012
Accepted 12 August 2012
Available online 25 August 2012
Keywords:
SNP
Stability
D. indica
Green synthesis

a b s t r a c t
In the present research we have dened a novel green method of silver nanoparticles synthesis using
Dillenia indica fruit extract. D. indica is an edible fruit widely distributed in the foothills of Himalayas and
known for its antioxidant and further predicted for cancer preventive potency. The maximum absorbance
of the colloidal silver nanoparticle solution was observed at 421 nm when examined with UVvis spectrophotometer.
2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

2. Materials and methods

Synthesis and application of colloidal silver nanoparticles

was discussed in our previous publication in detail [1]. Many
researchers have already established the application potential of
nanoparticles as antioxidant, antimicrobial, surface functionalization and part of cosmetic composites [25]. The plasmon resonance
characteristics were described by Scholl et al. [6]. The antioxidant potency and biochemical composition of Dillenia indica was
described by Abdille et al. [7].
The use of nanoparticles as potential drug carrier for the treatment of cancer was reported too [4]. The antioxidant and cytotoxic
properties evaluated by various workers advocated potential applications in daily human life. Other researchers reported the stability
of silver nanoparticles obtained by green synthesis [8,9].
D. indica, commonly known as elephant apple is a wildly and
widely available fruit in the north eastern states of India and
foothills of Himalaya. As mentioned earlier D. indica is a potent
source of ascorbic acid, -tocopherol, -carotene and phenolic
components [7]. The transverse section of the fruit showing petals
and seeds is presented in supplementary Fig. S1. In the present
investigation authors provide a novel green method for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles replacing the conventional reducer
sodium borohydrate with D. indica fruit (petal) extract.

AgNO3 , sodium borohydrate (Merck, India) and KOH (HiMedia,

India) of analytical grade were purchased.

Corresponding author at: #106, DBT Nodal Centre, Tezpur University, PONapaam, Sonitpur 784028, Assam, India. Tel.: +91 9957571281.
E-mail address: jyotizone@gmail.com (J.P. Saikia).
0927-7765/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2012.08.012

2.1. Preparation of extract

D. indica fruit petals were washed with distilled water and cut
into small pieces. 25 g of the petals were soaked in 100 mL distilled water and ground in a mixer grinder (Philips HL1629 Mixer
grinder, Bajaj Electronics India) for 5 min. The homogenous suspension obtained was ltered through a muslin cloth and 50 mL of the
ltrate was centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 15 min (using 50 mL rotor
in a REMI, India centrifuge C-24BL at 25 C). The clear supernatant
was collected and thereafter designated as the extract.

2.2. Synthesis of silver nanoparticles using D. indica extract

20 L of AgNO3 (0.5 M) was mixed with 50 L of the extract in
4 mL distilled water. The solution was made slightly basic by adding
0.01 M KOH and the nal volume was adjusted to 5 mL with distilled
water. The gradual formation of clear golden yellow solution conrms the synthesis of colloidal silver nanoparticles. Two negative
controls were prepared having AgNO3 and KOH in one (marked as
C in Fig. 2) and D. indica extract and KOH in the other (marked
as E in Fig. 2). As positive control SNP synthesized using sodium
borohydrate was also prepared (marked as SNP-SB in Fig. 2).

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S. Singh et al. / Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 102 (2013) 8385

Fig. 3. The time dependent formation of the silver nanoparticles from AgNO3 , KOH
and D. indica petal extract from 0 min to 166 h. There is no visible shifting in the
curve seen during the analysis and from the data it can be observed that the peak
of interest in the curve remain between 419 and 421 nm from the time of synthesis
to 166 h observation period.
Fig. 1. Showing golden yellow coloration of the colloidal silver nanoparticles formed
in the middle test tube (SNP). On its left the control having AgNO3 and KOH and right
with D. indica extract control.

Fig. 2. Showing the formation of silver nanoparticles (SNP) in the form of absorbance
maxima at 421 nm at 166 h, whereas the D. indica fruit extract and KOH of equal
volume in distilled water was labeled as E. C depicts absorption pattern of AgNO3
and KOH mixture as negative control without D. indica fruit extract. The formation of
silver nanoparticles is clear from the gure (SNP). Silver nanoparticles synthesized
using sodium borohydrate (SNP-SB) was also presented for comparison.

2.3. Characterization
UVvis spectroscopic analysis of the yellow colored solution
along with the two negative controls was run together with specic
time interval from 200 to 800 nm using UV-10 spectrophotometer
(Thermo Scientic, USA).
3. Results and discussions
As shown in Fig. 1 colloidal silver nanoparticles maintain clear
yellow appearance [10]. The yellow coloration formed is due to the
plasmon absorption band in the range of 380430 nm [11]. Fig. 2

shows the absorbance difference of two negative controls in comparison to silver nanoparticles colloidal solution at 166 h suggesting
clearly the reduction of AgNO3 by D. indica extract. The absorption
maxima of SNP-SB (Fig. 2) was found to be almost double (peak at
408 nm) suggesting efcient reduction of AgNO3 to silver nanoparticles as compared to D. indica extract/KOH method. As observed in
Fig. 3 the colloidal silver nanoparticles yielding continues as shown
by the progressive increase of the absorption at 421 nm up to 166 h
after initiation of the synthesis process with a maximum absorption
of 1.126 units. The details of the silver nanoparticles UVvis analysis data showing consistency of the peak position (with respect to
wavelength axis in Fig. 3) at 421 nm is presented as Supplementary
Table S2. The absorption is a typical Mie resonance, where the electron gap in the silver nanoparticles undergoes collective oscillation.
The shape of the absorption band of this yellow colloid depends
on the particle size, shape, surface and physicochemical properties of the other colloidal components. The particles size of these
silver nanoparticle ranges from 40 to 100 nm [12]. Appearance of
yellow coloration as indicator for presence of silver nanoparticle
was further conrmed by Ernest et al. [13]. The stability of the colloidal silver nanoparticles for more than 6 days (166 h) might be
attributed to the citrate component of the D. indica fruit juice [11].
Further research to examine the colloidal silver nanoparticles for
novelty of shape, size, type and biological property, leading to novel
application is needed.
Acknowledgement
Author Susmita Singh like to acknowledge University Grant
Commission, India for providing nancial assistance in the form
of Dr. D. S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be
found, in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.colsurfb.2012.08.012.
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